In many areas of manufacturing there is a need for the accurate mechanical alignment of two pieces of apparatus or equipment prior to movement of those pieces of equipment into a final superimposed, nested, interlocking or other form of contact with one another. In many cases it may not be possible visually to determine when the two pieces of equipment are in alignment. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a docking (alignment) system whereby one can ensure that accurate mechanical alignment of the two pieces of equipment does exist before further movement of one or both pieces of equipment into a final contact position.